In the first half of the fourteenth chapter of Wizards at War, the wizards assemble on the moon to plan their final attack. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Young Wizards.
I don’t know what “catastrophic†refers to in the title of this chapter, and I’m worried. There is a huge possibility that there will be more collateral damage in the finale of this book, and I AM VERY WORRIED. Initially, I thought chapter fourteen would open with confirmation of Ronan’s death, given that he wasn’t breathing and there was that whole GIANT MYTHICAL SPEAR IN HIS CHEST thing. Even after Nita realized she could use the stasis spell inspired by Darryl, I wasn’t comforted. They were going back to the Crossings! WHAT IF THERE WAS A HUGE BATTLE THERE? They had no way of contacting Sker’ret to find out if it was okay to travel there, so basically: lots of unknown things, y’all. Too many variables! (I was quickly proven wrong, since Roshaun did contact Sker’ret, of course.)
So this was a nerve-wracking read because I kept waiting for the inevitable shoe to drop. Something horrible was going to happen, and that had to be the reason for the “catastrophic†in the title. My anxiety jumped from one possible outcome to another. Roshaun wasn’t “dead,†but the entire process of putting him in stasis was quite terrifying because I thought Ronan was leaving his body behind. How’s that for a plot twist? What if Ronan willingly decided to die, even though Nita was trying to save him? They do end up putting him in stasis, so I began to focus on the next thing:
While they were standing Ronan upright, Nita punched the “last dialed number†button on the phone, put it to her ear, and waited.
Nothing happened. She took the phone away from her ear and looked at it. Its dialing screen cleared and showed her a little message: DIALED PLANET UNAVAILABLE.
Planet! PLANET!!! Not just a person, but the whole goddamn planet. That became my new worry: what if they were too late? What if Earth was too far gone and no one could save it? WHY DOES THIS BOOK KEEP TORMENTING ME SO? I focused more on that than the fact that Rirhath B was also the target of the receding Pullulus. (Well, receding in other places, I should say.) At least there were wizards working on the issue! Was there anyone left on Earth who could help, or were Earth’s wizards spread thin in this war?
I’m sure you can see that I spent most of the first half of this chapter asking a lot of questions. Even as information began to trickle down to me through the text, I then had to deal with the fact that the group was breaking apart. Sker’ret had to remain at the Crossings; Filif needed to go home to tend to his own world. It was only a matter of time before Roshaun returned home, too. IT WAS LIKE THE BAND WAS BREAKING UP, Y’ALL. There wasn’t even time for thoughtful goodbyes because everything was so awful!
Thankfully, I got a break once the wizards made it to the moon. The group got to reunite with Nguyet, Tuyet, and Darryl, and THIS WAS A GREAT THING. (I was ready to accept any positive turn of events as soon as possible.) And I know I’ve said this before, but I’m still super into the fact that Duane found a way to invoke the title of this whole series through the action in Wizards at War. The only wizards left to protect all of Earth are sixteen years old and younger. The future of everything is left up to them, and they’re just so brilliant and dedicated and frightened. See, I love that Duane allows them to be scared because it feels so much more genuine and realistic. This truly feels like the biggest nightmare that they’ll ever face, you know? It’s why that moment that Kit and Nita have through their wizardry communication ability is so heartbreaking. There’s still a chance that they’ll fail and the Pullulus will destroy their world. I’m hoping that’s not the case, but y’all, I still don’t know what’s “catastropic†about this success.
HELP.
I am thrilled to confirm that I will be a Guest at CrossingsCon 2017! Badges are now available, so COME HANG OUT WITH ME THIS SUMMER.
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